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11-year-old Aubrey started screaming in "sheer terror" and she was later unable to stand unaided or drink without fluids dribbling out of her mouth

A mum believed her 11-year-old daughter had food poisoning but the truth was far more sinister.

When Stephanie Smith's daughter, Aubrey, started screaming in "sheer terror" out of nowhere, she was horrified. She later rushed over to the 11-year-old to check what was wrong, with the child pointing to her left ear.

Just moments later, she started vomiting and was drifting in and out of consciousness. After they visited the hospital, nothing was found to be wrong and it was assumed to have been a bout of food poisoning.

But then, the real nightmare began to reveal itself. "A CT scan showed a large white spot on her brain," the accountant said.

"Myself and my husband, Josh, locked eyes. There was something lurking in her brain. I was completely terrified. She was intubated and went into surgery the next morning.

"It was an agonising wait for the results; and then they told us it was a stroke." Aubrey had initially been checked for an infection, the flu and strep, all of which came back clear.

She was unable to stand unaided or drink without fluids dribbling out from her mouth. The white spot on her brain was a clotted bleed that had thankfully stopped on its own.

The 37-year-old, from Kenosha, Wisconsin, US, said: "We were just grateful it wasn't cancer. And that, incredibly, she had no side effects.

"Sadly, despite the bleed being removed, my little girl was left with crippling anxiety. It was only made all the more worse when a routine scan spotted something again."

Three years after the initial ordeal in 2019, it was found that she had an arteriovenous malformation. The condition involves an abnormal tangle of blood vessels which causes problems between the artery and brain.

And it was in the same spot as her original bleed. She said: "It could cause a brain haemorrhage or another stroke if left untreated.

"My heart broke. I could bear to put her through all of that again. But Aubrey told us she wasn't scared; and so we went through with surgery." After 11 hours, the entire tangle had been removed.

Now, she's thriving. Stephanie added: "I'm endlessly grateful. To the hospital and surgeons that saved her life. And for my courageous little girl that kept fighting."